THE BARKING DOG
Mr. and Mrs. Brown, not to say Bunny, Sue and Uncle Tad, were very, very
much surprised when Mrs. Jason said the boy had been scratched by a
lion.
"Are you sure about it?" asked the children's father.
"That's what he says," replied the farmer's wife. "He is certainly badly
scratched, as I could see for myself. Whether it was by a lion or
something else I can't say, never having seen a lion's scratches. The
boy might be making up some story, but he certainly _is_ scratched."
"The circus lion!" cried Mrs. Brown. "Oh, that must be the one that did
it! The lion must be roaming around here! We must lock the automobile
and stay inside!"
"Now please don't get excited," begged Mr. Brown. "In the first place
this boy may not be telling the truth. He is scratched, for Mrs. Jason
has seen the marks and bandaged them up, she says. But it may be the boy
fell down in the bushes, or among the rocks and got scratched that way.
Or it may have been some other wild animal in the woods that attacked
him. There are some animals around here, aren't there?" he asked the
farmer's wife.
"Well, skunks, groundhogs and the like of that, with maybe a fox or two.
Of course foxes or groundhogs will bite if any one tries to catch them,
but I don't know that they'd scratch, though they might if they were put
to it. I never saw such scratches as these. And, as you say, Mrs. Brown,
it _may_ have been the circus lion which is hiding around here."
"You don't seem very frightened over it," said Mrs. Brown.
"Well, what's the use of being frightened until I see it?" asked Mrs.
Jason. "I'm more worried about that poor boy. I wish I could do
something for him to ease his pain until Dr. Fandon comes. He may be a
long while."
"I'll come up with you and see what I can do," promised Mr. Brown.
"Uncle Tad knows something about soldiers' wounds, and perhaps he
could----"
"Oh, don't take Uncle Tad with you!" pleaded Mrs. Brown. "We need _one_
man around here if there's a lion loose in the woods. Come back as soon
as you can," she begged her husband as he walked toward the farmhouse
with Mrs. Jason.
"How did you happen to see the boy?" asked Mr. Brown.
"I was out gathering the eggs near the henhouse," said Mrs. Jason, "and
I heard a sort of groaning noise. Then I saw somebody coming toward me.
"At first I thought it was a tramp, and I was just going to call my
husband or one of the men, when I heard crying, and then I saw it was
only a boy, and that he was bleeding."
"How long ago was it that you found the scratched boy?" asked Mr. Brown.
"Nearly an hour now. As soon as I saw what the matter was I hurried him
into the house and got him on a couch. Mr. Jason and I did what
bandaging we could, and then I made him go for the doctor."
"Did you know the boy, and did he say where the lion attacked him?"
asked Mr. Brown.
"I never saw him before, that I know of. But he just managed to say the
beast jumped out of the bushes at him when he was coming through our
rocky glen, then all of a sudden he fainted."
"Where is this rocky glen of yours where you say the lion jumped out at
the boy?"
"About two miles from here, back in the hills. Waste land, mostly. You
aren't thinking of going there, are you?"
"Not now, though I think I'd better send word to the circus people that
their lion is around here."
"Yes, it would be a good thing."
By this time Mr. Brown and Mrs. Jason were at the house.
"I'll take a look at him," said Mr. Brown.
He saw, lying on a couch, a tall lad, whose face and hands were covered
with bandages. The youth was tossing to and fro and murmuring, but what
he said could not well be understood, except that now and then he spoke
of a lion.
"I didn't dare take his coat off to get at the scratches on his
shoulders," said Mrs. Jason. "I thought I'd let the doctor do that."
"Yes, I guess it will be best. But if you have any sweet spirits of
nitre in the house I'll give him that to quiet him and keep down the
fever."
"Oh, we always keep nitre on hand," and Mrs. Jason helped Mr. Brown give
some to the lad. In a little while he grew quieter, and then Dr. Fandon
came in with Mr. Jason.
The two men helped the physician get the youth undressed and into a
spare bed, and then the doctor, with Mrs. Jason's help, dressed the
wounds on the boy's face and shoulders, while the men waited outside.
Then, having done what he could for the boy, and promising to call in
the morning, when he could tell more about the boy's condition, the
doctor went home, while Mr. Brown and Mr. Jason planned to get word of
the lion to the two circus men who were still at the hotel in the
village.
"I'll drive over with you," said the farmer. This they did, though it
was late to drive to town, being after nine o'clock, stopping at the
"Ark" on the way to tell what had taken place at the farmhouse.
"Poor fellow!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "We must try to help him."
"I'll let him play with my Teddy bear when he gets well," said Sue, and
all the others laughed.
"The circus men will get after the lion in the morning," said the farmer
when he and Mr. Brown were back at the "Ark" on their return from town.
Though they were excited, and not a little afraid, Bunny and Sue were at
last in bed, but only after Uncle Tad had promised to sit up all night,
as he used to do when a sentry in the war, and, with his gun, watch for
any sign of the lion.
"And if you have to shoot him, which I hope you don't," said Bunny,
"call me first so I can look at him. But I don't want to see him shot.
Just make him go back to the circus."
"I will," promised Uncle Tad.
Bunny and Sue were up early the next morning, and even before breakfast
they wanted their father to go up to the farmhouse to find out about the
scratched boy, and also whether or not the lion had been caught.
"We'll see about the boy first," said Mr. Brown. "I guess it won't do
any harm for me to take the children up," he said to his wife.
"You will be careful, won't you?" she begged.
"Indeed I will," he promised.
So Bunny, with his sister and his father, walked up to Mr. Jason's home.
Dix and Splash went along, of course, and stood expectant at the door as
Mr. Brown rang.
"Oh, good morning!" cried Mrs. Jason as she answered the bell. "Our
scratched boy is much better this morning. He is not as badly hurt as we
feared. Come in."
Mr. Brown and the children entered, and of course the dogs followed.
"Go back, Dix and Splash," ordered Mr. Brown. Splash turned and went out
on the stoop, but Dix kept on. The dog was acting in a strange manner.
The door to a downstairs bedroom, where the wounded boy was lying, was
open. Dix ran in and the next moment he began to bark wildly, getting on
the bed with his forefeet.
"Down, Dix! Down!" cried Mr. Brown. "What do you mean, sir?"
But Dix kept on barking and whining. He tried to lick the hands of the
scratched boy.
"Oh, drive him away!" cried Mrs. Jason. "He'll hurt the boy."
But the boy, who seemed much better indeed, rose up in bed and cried:
"Don't send him away! That's Dix, my dog! Oh, Dix, you found me, didn't
you?"